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It’s been a while since our last post, but there’s a lot of EFLI updates to catch you all up on:

Kickstarter for EFLI documentary

Evan Rosenfeld and Jenna Moshell have created a Kickstarter for their EFLI documentary, Birth of a Sport. They are trying to raise $70,000 USD by December 21 so they can complete the production of their film. There are different donation packages, such as a DVD copy of the film when it’s released, an EFLI t-shirt, and much more. Click here to check the Kickstarter project out and donate however much you can; it will go a long way in helping the EFLI become a success in India.

Pune Marathas win Elite Bowl – crowned EFLI champions of the first season

On November 10, TEN Sports aired the EFLI championship game of the first season, called the Elite Bowl. The Pune Marathas defeated the Delhi Defenders 6-0, becoming the first ever champions of the EFLI. Congratulations to the Pune Marathas, as well as all the award winners for the first ever EFLI season!

Box scores for the first two weeks have been posted, and with this we can get a better sense of which players are standing out. Today, I’ll continue my Fantasy Power Rankings with the top 5 running backs, wide receivers, team defenses, and kickers.

Running Backs:

#1: Roshan Lobo (BAN) – Unquestionably the best running back and probably the best player in the EFLI. He should be the first overall pick in any EFLI Fantasy Football league. In Lobo’s first game, he had 6 carries for 111 yds and 1 reception for 9 yds and and 1 TD. A really great story, as he wasn’t even supposed to play running back for the Bangalore Warhawks: the 1st and 2nd string RBs took government jobs instead of playing in the EFLI, and the 3rd string RB had a passport issue and couldn’t make it to Sri Lanka for the 1st season. Essentially, Lobo was the 4th string RB, and he turned out to be a superstar.

#2: Ramachandran Rahul (PUN) – He had at least 50 rushing yards and 1 TD in each of his first two games. Pune seems to run the ball quite often, and even with QB Dinesh Kumar keeping the ball himself a lot, Rahul should be a consistent performer throughout the season.

#3: Mohamed Sheriff (COL) – He had 14 carries for 92 rushing yards and 3 receptions for 23 yards in his first game. The Lions have a very run-heavy, defense oriented playing style, so look for Sheriff to take the bulk of the carries for his team.

#4: Sandeep Kumar (DEL) – The Defenders have some great running backs, and it seems like Sandeep Kumar takes the majority of the carries. Although he has yet to find the endzone, he has at least 50 rushing yards in each of his first two games.

#5: Tarun Thimmaiah (BAN) – He’s backing up Roshan Lobo, but his numbers look very impressive so far. The Warhawks can hit their opponents with a lot of different offensive weapons, and Tarun Thimmaiah is one of them.

Wide Receivers:

#1: Navaneeth “Chamber” Shanta (BAN) – This guy will tear it up in the first EFLI season. When you have the best running back in Roshan Lobo on your team, it can really divert the attention of the defense and open up the passing game.

#2: Anant “Fabio” Verma (DEL) – Fabio is the best receiver on the Delhi Defenders, and he’s got Mayank “Brady” Sharma throwing to him. He’s a staple on the juggernaut of an offense that is Delhi, so look for him to make some big plays.

#3: Shenal Dias (PAK) – He is the favorite target for Wolfpak QB Jahangir Nawaz. Standing at 6’4″, he can just out jump most defenders to make the catch. He’s gotten a touchdown and at least 40 receiving yards in each of his first two games, so look for him to be a consistent performer throughout the season.

#4: Nitin “Megatron” Deshmukh (MUM) – He’s the Calvin Johnson of the EFLI. At 6’4″ and 245 lbs, he’s a physically imposing beast and can just overpower defenders. Look for Megatron to get some good receiving numbers in the first season.

#5: Waqar Javaid (PAK) – Pakistan probably has the best wide receiver duo in Shenal Dias and Waqar Javaid. When the defense focuses on covering Dias, there’s more opportunities for Waqar to make a big play.

#2: Colombo Lions (COL) – The Lions seem to have a “control-the-clock” style of play, with a lot of running and a very good defense. They have one of the best linebackers in the league in Suhail Imtiaz.

#5: Mumbai Gladiators (MUM) – Mumbai has a pretty good defense, as evidenced in the first ever EFLI scrimmage. Although they allowed their opponent to score 2 TDs in that game, you can really see glimpses of how overpowering their defense can be.

Looks like there are already some EFLI Fantasy Football leagues starting up: here (above) and here. Which players can put up those standout individual stats? The box score for the first two games have been posted (here and here). With this, and other knowledge, I have created a preliminary EFLI Player Power Rankings to help you with your EFLI Fantasy Football draft. Today, I’ll start with the quarterbacks:

#1: Dinesh Kumar (PUN) – The Michael Vick of the EFLI: dual-threat, and he even wears number #7. Expect good passing and rushing yardage, as well as multiple rushing TDs from him.

#8: Zulker Hamid (COL) – The Colombo Lions are a powerhouse of a team. From what I’ve gathered, Zulker Hamid is the starting QB of a well-balanced offense. (EDIT: Changed from Sandun Bandara, dropped down to #8)

#10: Avtar “Manni” Singh (DEL) – Perhaps his nickname is “Manni” because he puts the ball right on the “money”. He’s backing up “Brady”, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t play. Expect him to see some decent playing time and put up some good numbers with it.

Click on the above pictures for a better look at the EFLI fantasy football league that EFLI fan @JBPULSE started. Very impressive!

The official website of the Elite Football League of India has undergone a complete revamp: it now contains videos of all the EFLI commercials that been been airing on Ten Sports, new video profiles for two more teams (Mumbai Gladiators and Pune Marathas), complete rosters of all the teams, as well as sections for standings and stats, which presumably will be updated as the games are aired on Ten Sports. Check out the awesome new look of the official website. You will also find some links below of some of the new content.

There have been some great email updates from the EFLI recently. First, the TV schedules have been posted and the games will start airing on both Ten Sports and Ten Action on September 22:

The games are tape delays of the Sri Lanka season which ran from July 25 to August 25. They have been edited down to one hour each, cutting out most of the down time, similar to the Pune vs. Mumbai scrimmage from March 29.

Fifteen minute team/player profiles produced by Evan Rosenfeld and Jenna Moshell will also start airing on September 15. Speaking of these profiles, the ones for the Bangalore Warhawks and Pakistan Wolfpak have been posted:

Finally, EFLI commercials have been airing since Friday on Ten Sports, Ten Action, and Ten Cricket. Here’s one of the new ones by Chris Crutchfield which features some players from the Delhi Defenders as well as some aspiring American football players:

In case you missed them, here are the commercials which have already been posted:

The finals of the first EFLI season in Sri Lanka are here! Also, Ten Sports has acquired global broadcast rights for the EFLI until 2016, showing about 370 games over the next five years. Each year consists of two seasons commencing in July and November respectively. Ten Sports will start showing the games on television starting in September (I mentioned in a previous post that it is probably a tape delay of the season that is wrapping up right now).

Also, check out this article from The Island newspaper. Great insight on the first season of the EFLI, especially from some of the star players of the league. Congratulations to Roshan Lobo, running back of the Bangalore Warhawks, for winning the 2012 EFLI MVP. Can’t wait to finally see these games in September!

UPDATE: Congratulations to the Pune Marathas for winning the first Elite Bowl of the first EFLI season! The score was 6-0; click here for photos of the game on ThePapare.com’sfacebook page.

Games will be televised beginning September 15th on Ten Sports, the top rated sports channel in India and the entire sub-continent region. The EFLI is proud to have signed an agreement with Ten Sports to televise 33 games in its first season including Saturday and Sunday games as well as 13 Monday Night Football games. Ten Sports channels are the most watched sports channel by far across the sub-continent.

Therefore September 15 is the day that we will finally be able to see the games on television (and hopefully internet stream). I am assuming that the games will be a tape delay of the season that is just about to finish, and that November is the month in which a “real regular season” will start. Stay tuned for confirmation of this.

The semi-finals of the season are here. The top four teams were seeded without any regard to divisions, so our standings page has been updated to reflect that. Should be a couple of good matches, with top-seeded Bangalore going up against Delhi for the first time (they did not play on August 5), and Colombo and Pune playing an immediate rematch of their game on Wednesday.

Delhi beat Bangalore in their first match up of the season and Pune got revenge on Colombo in their immediate rematch. The matches were upsets as the lower seed beat the higher seed in both cases. The finals on Saturday, August 25 will therefore be:

The “final week” of the “regular season” is here – the key matchup being powerhouses Colombo and Pune going up against each other (possible finals preview?). The semi-finals will be on August 19 and the finals will be on August 25. I am assuming the few games that were not played will not be made up.

UPDATE 8/15/12, 7:49pm EDT: Results and photos are in and it looks like Colombo won the clash of the titans vs Pune 9-6. Also, Delhi’s win over Mumbai put them into the playoffs. Click on the links for photos from each match from ThePapare.com‘s Facebook page: